invaluable to him; but there is nothing especially remarkable to record
of the period. He himself left an account of the failure of _The
Forbidden Love_, which was produced in 1836. The company went to pieces
immediately after, and he was glad to find a position at Königsberg.
This, however, came to nothing, or next to nothing, owing to the
director's failure, and again Wagner had to remove, this time to Riga.

The Riga period is one of the most important of his life. He had married
Minna Planer, who is said to have been a very pretty woman and quite
incapable of understanding her husband and his artistic aspirations; and
he began, slowly and tentatively, to shape a course through life for
himself. He continued to gain experience in the production of other
composers' operas; he studied incessantly, and at last he hit upon the
idea of writing a grand opera in the Meyerbeer style, and going to Paris
with it, in the hope of getting it produced at the opera there. He was
harassed by creditors; and with the daring and energy characteristic of
the man whom Fate had destined to build Bayreuth, he determined to try
by one bold stroke to retrieve his fortunes. He was still a young man
when he went to Riga in 1837, but he was in such a feverish hurry for
fame and glory, not to say money, that no obstacle was allowed to stand
in his way. During the last few years he had composed a number of
occasional things--which we need not stop to consider--but nothing on
the sumptuous scale of _Rienzi_. Heroic personages, dramatic or
melodramatic situations, opportunities for huge gaily-dressed crowds and
scenic display--these were what the young man was after; and in the
story of Rienzi he found plenty to fire an imagination always prone to
flame and flare at the slightest suggestion. The libretto was written;
the music was partly written; and in 1839 Wagner took one of the most
momentous steps in all his stormy career--he sailed from Riga,
accompanied by his wife and dog, with the intention of reaching Paris by